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The well-being of carers of older Aboriginal people living in the Kimberley region of remote Western Australia: empowerment, depression, and carer burden.

Affiliation(s)

(LoGiudice) Melbourne Health, VIC, Australia
(LoGiudice) The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
(Josif, Malay, Hyde, Etherton-Beer, Atkinson, Bessarab, Flicker, Smith) The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
(Josif) The University of Notre Dame Australia, Broome, WA, Australia
(Haswell) Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Australia
(Lindeman) Flinders University, Alice Springs, NT, Australia

Year

2021

Citation

Journal of Applied Gerontology. Vol.40(7), 2021, pp. 693-702.

Journal

Journal of Applied Gerontology

Conference name

Conference location

Grant information

No: 1045737 Organisation: (NHMRC) National Health and Medical Research Council Organisation No: 501100000925 Country: Australia

Abstract

Objective: To describe demographic features and well-being of carers of Aboriginal Australians aged >=45 years in remote Western Australia. Method(s): Carer burden, empowerment, and depression were assessed in 124 Aboriginal carers in four remote Aboriginal communities. Result(s): Carers were aged 38.8 +/- 15.0 years, 73.4% were female, and 75.8% were children or grandchildren of the person cared for. The mean Zarit-6 score was 3.7 +/- 3.6. Attending high school (odds ratio [OR] = 0.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.1, 0.7]) and feeling empowered (OR = 0.2; 95% CI = [0.1, 0.8]) were inversely associated with carer burden; female carers were less likely to feel empowered (OR = 0.4; 95% CI = [0.2, 0.9]); and empowerment was inversely associated with depression (OR = 0.3; 95% CI = [0.1, 0.7]). Discussion(s): Aboriginal carers in remote communities are relatively young and most are children or grandchildren. Carer burden was lower than anticipated. However, existing tools may not adequately measure Aboriginal perspectives. Education and empowerment are key factors which support programs must consider.Copyright © The Author(s) 2020.

PubMed ID

31920136 [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=31920136]

Type

Article

Study type

Subjects

Rural and remote health

Keywords